School Board Adopts List
of Religious Holidays
Huntington School Board members have adopted a list of religious holidays for the 2011/12 school year, paving the way for the district to exclude the dates for state aid purposes should attendance drop as a result of the holidays.
Such adoption is an annual event and is intended to protect district taxpayers. "We are able to exclude from the annual calculation for state aid purposes certain religious holidays that may impact the daily attendance that may occur in one or more buildings," explained Assistant Superintendent David H. Grackin.
The list of holidays includes the Navtivity of Mary (Sept. 8), Holy Cross Day (Sept. 14), Navaratri (Sept. 28), Shemini Atzeret (Oct. 20), Simchat Torah (Oct. 21), All Saint's Day (Nov. 1), Haij (Nov. 4), St. Andrew's Day (Nov. 30), Ashura (Dec. 5), Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8), Epiphany (Jan. 6), Candelmas (Feb. 2), Tu BiShvat (Feb. 8), Nirvana Day (Feb. 15), Saint David of Wales (March 1), Purim (March 8), Ramayana (March 23), Yom HaShoah (April 19), St. George Day (April 23), Yom Ha'Atzmaut (April 27), Ascension of Christ (May 17), Corpus Christi (June 7) and the Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 15).
"These holidays have nothing to do with the student calendar, but will be used for computational purposes when the days that they occur are compared to other days of students' attendance," Mr. Grackin said. "If a day which was deemed a religious holiday has a low attendance count, we will then be able to exclude that day from attendance calculation."